Rainbow Dragon Backpack

I really like crocodile stitch, though I think it is too thick for most garments. However, this becomes an advantage when making a bag or backpack. In my stash, I happened to have self-striping Kauni yarn featuring long color transitions, and it worked really well for this project. Matching self-striping yarn to a project is often a matter of guesswork, so I feel I got lucky with this one. The bottom, flap and straps were knitted using a solid black yarn to complement the colorful body of the bag.

If you don't have a yarn with long color transitions, you can achieve the same effect by using several solid yarns.

Probably the most challenging part of this pattern is crocheting crocodile stitch in rounds. I prepared a video explaining how to do this with the help of my wonderful assistants, and hopefully you find it helpful. If you have experience with crocodile stitch, this should present no problem at all. If you can figure out the crocodile stitch, the rest is actually pretty straightforward.

Round 2: ch 3 (counts as 1 dc), 1 dc in the same st, 2 dc into each dc, sl st to top of ch 3 (24 sts)

Round 3: ch 3 (counts as 1 dc), 1 dc in the same st, *1 dc, 2 dc into next dc*, repeat to the end of the round, sl st to top of ch 3 (36 sts)

Round 4: ch 3 (counts as 1 dc), 1 dc in the same st, *2 dc, 2 dc into next dc*, repeat to the end of the round, sl st to top of ch 3 (48 sts)

Rounds 5-10: continue to work as round 4 increasing by 12 dc in each round. Round 10 will have 120 sts.

Body

Round 11: ch 2 (counts as 1 bdc), back post dc to the end of the round.

Round 12: with yarn B: ch 3, 1 dc into the same st, *ch 2, skip 2 sts, 1 dc, ch 2, skip 2 sts, 2 dc into the same st, repeat from * to the end of the round, sl st to the ch 3.

Round 13: *ch 2 (counts as the first st of the "scale", turn your work sideways and work 4 more dc down the first dc (in the case of the first scale of the round it is a ch 3), ch 1, turn your work 180 degrees and work 5 dc up the 2nd dc, ch 1, work 19 more "scales" to the end of the round, sl st, to the ch2.

Round 14: ch 3, 1 dc into the same st, *ch 2, 1 dc into the center of the "scale", ch 2, 2 dc into the space between 2 "scales", inserting the hook under both ch 1 of the previous round and into the 1 dc of round 12 in order to secure the "scale", repeat from * to the end of the round, sl st to ch 3.

Round 15: work the same as round 13, working the "scales" in between the " scales" of round 13.

Repeat rounds 12-15 11 more times or to desired height of the backpack. There will be 24 rows of "scales".

Round 2: ch 3 (counts as 1 dc), 1 dc in the same st, 2 dc into each dc, sl st to top of ch 3 (24 sts)

Round 3: ch 3 (counts as 1 dc), 1 dc in the same st, *1 dc, 2 dc into next dc*, repeat to the end of the round, sl st to top of ch 3 (36 sts)

Round 4: ch 3 (counts as 1 dc), 1 dc in the same st, *2 dc, 2 dc into next dc*, repeat to the end of the round, sl st to top of ch 3 (48 sts)

Rounds 5-7: continue to work as round 4 increasing by 12 dc in each round. Round 7 will have 84 sts.

Rounds 8-9: one round of "scales"

Round 8: ch 3, 1 dc into the same st, *ch 2, skip 2 st, 1 dc, ch 2, skip 2 sts, 2 dc into the same st, from * repeat to the end of the round, sl st to the ch 3.

Round 9: *ch 2 (counts as the first st of the "scale", turn your work sideways and work 4 more dc down the first dc (in case of the first scale of the round it is a ch 3), ch 1, turn your work 180 degrees and work 5 dc up the 2nd dc, ch 1, work 19 more "scales" to the end of the round, sl st, to the ch 2. Tie off.

Straps

With yarn A ch 8

Row 1: ch 3 (counts as 1 dc), 7 dc. Turn.

Continue to work strap of 8 dc until desired length. Tie off.

Make 2 straps.

Finishing

Secure the straps at the bottom of the backpack and at the top. Sew on the flap at the same place where the straps are attached.

Crochet a chain drawstring and thread into the top row of the backpack.

When I joined I sl st to the bottom of the chain 3 not the top and worked up going right to left.... mine were going the wrong way too but this way worked for me... I guess by now you figured it out..Lol

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